“The Lord is my light and salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? Hide not Thy face far from me. Put not Thy servant away in anger. Thou hast been my help. Leave me not, neither forsake me. O God of my salvation, for He gives me power to always see Thee.” |
This article is about an entity from Nun Massacre, not to be confused with The Nun from Christmas Massacre.
The Nun is the main antagonist in Nun Massacre and the game's novelization of the same name.
Description[]
Appearance[]
The Nun is an adult Caucasian woman with dark brown hair, hidden underneath her headwear. She is of indeterminate age and weight, has a fairly broad-shouldered body type and she stands at a about almost 6’3” inches tall and barely missing the top of doorframes. Her face has a doll-like quality to it, with a small round nose, pursed red lips and, most noticeably, large eyes with with prominent eyelashes, the sockets being fully enveloped in black, which streams down to her cheeks.
She wears a traditional Catholic nun's habit, consisting of a black veil draped over a white coif and a black tunic with a white guimpe. In her right hand, she holds a kitchen knife to kill people.
History[]
Absolutely nothing is known about the Nun's origins. She appears to haunt and possibly lives on the premises of an abandoned old Catholic Boarding School in an unnamed mountainous region of the U.S., stalking Mrs. McDonnell as she searches the school for her daughter Janie.
Several notes and circumstantial hints found throughout the game give partial insight into the nature of the Nun, although none of the resulting theories have been currently been accepted as canon.
Mother Apollonia[]
According to some unsent letters by Janie McDonnell, the boarding school's Mother Superior, Mother Apollonia, was a merciless disciplinarian, who subjected the young girl to countless manners of humiliating abuse in a twisted and wholly unnecessary form of behavioral modification to "cure" her of blasphemous thoughts. Believing Janie to be an incorrigible sinner, Apollonia regularly took her out of class or the sleeping dorm for minor or perceived indiscretions in order to lead her back on the path of the Lord. These methods included beatings with a ruler, locking her in a small room for hours on end, sexually violating her with a cross, shaving her head bald and forbidding her from using the bathroom, due to which Janie soon became incontinent.[1] In one especially cruel incident, Janie defecated on the floor after being denied access to a toilet while locked up, after which she was forced by Mother Apollonia to cover herself in her own excrement in front of her classmates. Apollonia appeared to have singled out Janie specifically, as other students were spared from her wrath and even allowed to pick on her without consequence. Due to this horrific maltreatment, many believe there to be a connection between Mother Apollonia and the Nun, either being inspired or outright being her, whether real, imagined or paranormally manifested, with Puppet Combo referring to the Nun as "Mother Apollonia" in several joke tweets.[2][3]
Mrs. McDonnell[]
Ending A of the game has two final notes, apparently written by Mrs. McDonnell. In them, Mrs. McDonnell is shown to be a religious fanatic and describes her despair on being unable to control her daughter, lamenting that despite Mother Apollonia's "best attempts", she believes that Janie still continues to stray from the light and remains bound for eternal damnation. Towards the end, Mrs. McDonnell vows to "save" her daughter herself and proclaims that if she can't help Janie as a mother, she will have to become a sister, heavily implying that after Janie was taken home by her due to illness, which, considering the circumstances, may have been a code between her and Mother Apollonia for her supposed heresy, Mrs. McDonnell continued and replicated the abuse she experienced in a last-ditch effort to prevent her daughter's soul from being doomed, hoping to accomplish what the boarding school had failed to do. In turn, this would mean that Mrs. McDonnell had allowed or even advised Mother Apollonia to be especially strict with Janie and even after finding out about the extent of the punishments, decided that they had not been enough and taking on the mantle of a nun with an equally cruel disposition as Mother Apollonia. This seems to have been the tipping point for Janie, who implicitly hanged herself to escape this torture.
Evidence outside of this, such as Mrs. McDonnell unwillingness to enter her daughter's bedroom in the beginning and her generally questionable course of actions in Ending A and C imply that she eventually came to her senses and felt awful about what she had done to Janie, both directly and by proxy. Coupled with the implication that Mrs. McDonnell, who had inexplicably thought of her daughter as being in the clutches of the Devil, was mentally ill or at least an extremely deluded zealot, likely means that the Nun is a product of a guilt-ridden psyche, representing both Mother Apollonia and herself, as sadistic torturers hiding under the veil of holy guidance. Likewise, the Nun's strangely child-like facial features also show that she is representative of Janie as well, likely because she feels that her daughter is seeking and deserves to punish her for the torment she had to go through. The events in the game are thusly mostly interpreted as Mrs. McDonnell coping with her guilt and either taking her own life in some way (Ending A, B & D) or forgiving herself and atoning by eliminating the Nun, the facet of her own self which led to Janie's death, before "ascending", likely meaning she has, or at least hopes to have, redeemed herself in the eyes of God.
Some fans believe the Nun to be a grown-up, possibly supernaturally empowered Janie, driven insane by the abuse at the boarding school, which seems unlikely, given the VHS tapes pointing to Janie committing suicide.
Personality[]
The Nun's personality is based on Mother Apollonia's extremely cruel and authoritarian behavior. She fits the profile of a rage-filled psychopath. She is shown to be vindictive and cunning, setting up traps like the barbed wire pit on the staircase to make those unfortunate enough to fall in suffer. She appears to take sadistic pleasure in instilling fear in her victims, screaming loudly as she chases them, openly displaying a dead body in the chapel and once she has cornered her target she will take her time mocking them with harrowing whispers before gruesomely murdering them with utmost prejudice.
Nun Massacre[]
The Nun makes her first appearance as Mrs. McDonnell approaches the boarding school, standing from a distance as Mrs. McDonnell climbs the steep way up the hill, quickly vanishing as she comes closer.
Inside the school the Nun patrols the halls and rooms. To avoid being spotted by her, Mrs. McDonnell has to stay out of her sight, hide under beds, avoid making noises, and avoid using light sources when she's around. If the Nun detects Mrs. McDonnell's presence, she will give chase, forcing the player to run away from her until she loses her trail or to hides under a bed. The vents are not a safe place because the Nun can will crouch down and crawl through to continue her pursuit. She is able to hide behind doorways, getting too close to that door will make her bust through it and instantly start a chase. If Mrs. McDonnell is spotted hiding under the bed, the Nun will flip the bed over and attack, making the bed useless afterwards.
Fate[]
Notably, the Nun does not make an appearance in Endings A & B.
Ending C (Good Ending)[]
In the good ending, Mrs. McDonnell finds herself in a room with a life-sized Bongo the Clown, along with the Nun, oddly shrunk down to the size of a child, trapped inside a cage. Interaction with her only prompts the vague line "Don't believe her lies". Using a jerry can, Mrs. McDonnell pours gasoline into the cage and sets it on fire, killing the Nun, leaving only her skeleton behind.
Ending D (Bad Ending)[]
After navigating through the ventilation system, Mrs. McDonnell falls into a narrow space at the end of one tunnel and is unable to get out. Soon the Nun appears, stares down at her and starts vomiting a reddish, corrosive liquid onto Mrs. McDonnell, filling the room and killing her.
If Mrs. McDonnell falls into the barbed wire pit, she will get stuck and won't be able to move. After some time, if one waits long enough without looking around fast, the Nun will slowly move into view from around the lower corner, whispering quietly. With a few seconds delay, she will start stabbing Mrs. McDonnell to death, resulting in a non-standard game over.
Nun Massacre: The Book[]
*Massive spoiler alert*
As was the case with Babysitter Bloodbath YA Novel, the 2021 novelization offers an alternative perspective and interpretation on the events of Nun Massacre, not neccessarily lining up with the information provided in the game. Due to this including a fixed, unambiguous canon, the story changes dramatically, in spite of some logical or plot-related contradictions, with the nature of the Nun being fully explained.
- The Nun's previously contentious existence is confirmed, as the unreliable account from Mrs. McDonnell's point of view is now substantiated by protagonist Dawn and her friends.
- Mother Apollonia makes her first physical appearance in a flashback, giving an unbias account of her personality, which is clearly shown to be a harsh, unforgiving and sternly old-school martinet, largely in line with Janie's description of her. Interactions with another character however, the previously mentioned-only Sister Euphemia, also show that her cruel ways extended onto everyone around her, including her fellow nuns, best seen when she slaps the former for her hesitation. No direct mention of sexual abuse is made, although humiliation is implied by Euphemia and physical punishment visibly routine at the boarding school.
- Additionally, many of Mother Apollonia's mannerisms, such as her thunderous foot stomping, large figure, implicitly psychopathic profile, apparent fanaticism, anger-twisted, poignant grimace, with an emphasis on her eyes and lips, and violent behavior, clearly allude to the Nun, who shares these exact traits.
- The Nun acts much more efficiently and with tactics, which all actively work towards her ultimate goal of murdering her victims. Besides the barbed wire pit, other traps such as a bucket filled with flammable liquid or a bait-and-lure ploy into the saferoom are set up. She maintains her methodical patrol of the hallways and periodically checks certain room upon hearing noise, but never uncovers any hiding spots and is never seen entering the vents.
- Unlike her in-game counterpart, the Nun gets a canon bodycount, consisting of Mary, Kevin, Andrea, Chris, Scott, Barb, as well as over sixty students and an unspecified number of nuns during the St. Cecelia's Preparatory School massacre many years prior, including Sister Euphemia.
- All of the kills in the novel are achievable in the game in some way, though all are inflicted upon the high schoolers rather than Mrs. McDonnell. As per her classic M.O. used in the school massacre, the Nun stabs three of her victims, blitzing two in a surprise attack and cornering the other, tricks one into impaling herself on the barbed wire pit, dissolves yet another inside the vent nook with via acidic vomit and finally, douses one with fuel and sets him on fire with a match, the latter being a reference to the Nun's demise in Ending C.
- Over time, her supposedly paranormal nature is deconstructed and revealed to be elaborately faked. The very human perpetrator simply dons one of the many leftover nun outfits found throughout the building, which combined with the dark environment and impromptu make-up, mask her true identity. Her ability to appear from one side of the building to another is really on account of her familiarity with the school's layout and implied usage of the ventilation system, allowing her to navigate the area with a quick pace and relative ease. Certain aspects such as her "acidic vomit" are explained as actually being a highly corrosive blend of chemicals such as gasoline and turpentine, while her feats of peak human performance, such as astonishing speed and strength are said to be the result of the real woman's severe case of psychosis.
- Rather than a supernatural being or a deranged Mother Apollonia, the Nun is revealed to be an alter ego of Mrs. McDonnell, who was traumatized during her stay at the school as a young girl when she was known as Janie. Following the massacre, she had subconsciously mirrored one of her split personalites after Mother Apollonia, whom she killed decades ago, to live out her pent-up rage over having endured maltreatment at the latter's hand by copying her, though with an openly homicidal overtone. She unwillingly switches between the persona, known to her as "Mother", as well as that of "Janie", her childhood self and imaginary daughter, during her frequent relapses into insanity. Mrs. McDonnell regularly returns to the school, often enough to set up booby traps and return power, living out her insane mind games, meant to be self-inflicted mental terror, in full. During these psychotic fits, anyone who crosses her path, mostly unfortunate dark tourism travellers, is slaughtered while "Mother" is in control and later disposed of. This has led to claims of the boarding school being haunted by the entity responsible for the unsolved school massacre, which does not stray too far from the truth.
- The whispers one can hear when close to the Nun are also explained as Mrs. McDonnell talking to herself, either trying to rationalize her atrocities to herself by shifting the blame onto her childhood traume and "conversations" between Mrs. McDonnell's different personalities.
- The Nun meets her end when Dawn lures her to the cemetery, knocks her into an open grave after a fight and buries her alive, her last words being the repeated recitation of Psalm 27, which appears recurringly in the novel, itself a reference to a note found within the game.
Trivia[]
- The Nun's missing eyes are in reference to Saint Lucia, who is also referenced in-game.[1] She died a martyr's death after her eyes were gouged out.
- The Nun's model and AI are based on that of the Night Shift Abductor, since the game was build on top of Stay Out of the House.
- The main office inside the boarding school has a TV playing a CFV-themed video, heavily implying close ties or even membership of the Nun to the organization.
- Outside of chase sequences, if one manages to get close to the Nun undetected, unintelligible whispers, apparently those of a child, can be heard. This is most audible when the Nun closes in on Mrs. McDonnell if she has fallen into the barbed wire pit.
- Though likely out of simplicity in design, the Nun's habit lack the customary rosary and pectoral crucifix any Catholic nun would typically carry, which can signify her false holiness.
- The Nun, along with the Mutilator, is one of few Puppet Combo villains without any prior canonically confirmed victims.
- Ironically, the novel version of the Nun has the second highest overall kill count (65+), beaten only by Larry (99+, excluding both Texas Butcher prototypes), as well as the highest known kill count of any non-player character.
- In a tweet by Puppet Combo about a potential sequel to Nun Massacre, a gif featuring the Nun, wearing a white gown instead of her signature outfit, is shown, revealing she has long, dark brown hair.[4]
- It is commonly believed that the Nun's appearance was inspired by Valak, the main antagonist of the 2018 horror film The Nun. which similarly takes the form of a nun while terrorizing a remote Catholic institution in the countryside. Despite the parallels, Ben Cocuzza initially stated that this was false, as he had been unaware of the movie during early development. While true, Cocuzza later said that he did take inspiration from The Nun's basic premise while working on a Power Drill Massacre sequel, eventually conceptualizing Nun Massacre and advertising it with regards to the movie, as seen in the majority of Puppet Combo's promotional social media posts under #TheNun, which was at least partially done due to the movie's massive pre-release hype.[5]
- The Nun from Christmas Massacre uses her model, albeit sized-down and with a different face.
- The Nun's telltale screams during chase sequences were based on the Ruth Price 911 call, which supposedly records the murder of an elderly woman named Ruth Price by an intruder as she calls the emergency line and has gained widespread infamy for its disturbing nature, specifically the alleged dying screams of Price. Though the call itself is authentic, Ruth Price was not killed in the actual attack, with the audio having been reused for emergency hotline training to showcase the mistakes the operator had made. It was later revealed by Puppet Combo that a voice actor had been used to recreate the screams.
Gallery[]
Promotional material[]
